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Search Results for: 54952(c) nonprofit Brown – Page 2

A&A: Council-elect make decisions, but claim documents are not public

FAC October 21, 2010

Q: I cover an unincorporated community that voted in June to incorporate. Voters approved incorporation and also elected a five-member council.  A committee has been formed to raise private funds to put on a celebration on mark the historic occasion. Two elected members of the city council-elect (who will not be sworn in until the day of the celelbration) serve on this committee. My questions: is this committee considered private? Am I entitled to the

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A&A: Application of the Brown Act to Volunteer Fire Companies

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Application of the Brown Act to Volunteer Fire Companies Q: I am a member of a volunteer fire company and our tax status is a 501c4. Our tax return is part of the Public Records Act, but are the rest of our records part of the same Act? We believe that we are not part of the Brown Act because none of our members are on the Fire Dept. Board or visa versa. We are

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Non-Profits Covered under Brown Act

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Non-Profits Covered under Brown Act Q: This is to clarify whether or not our volunteer association, which takes care of a City Dog Park, is under the Brown Act. We were not created by any of the required methods spoken of in the Act (e.g. ordinance, formal action, charter, or resolution).  We saw a need, came together and the City liked the idea of not having to deal with the park. However, we have been

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A&A: Does the Brown Act apply to volunteer fire company

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Q: I am a member of a volunteer fire company and our tax status is a 501c4. Our tax return is part of the Public Records Act but is the rest of our records part of the same Act. We believe that we are not part of the Brown Act because we have none of our members on the Fire Dept. Board and visa versa. We are a separate entity formed by our group back

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A&A: When does a non-profit fall under the Brown Act?

FAC July 31, 2013

Q: If a city establishes an Association and it is registered as a nonprofit under 501(c)(6) does that Association fall under the Brown Act? If the Association does receive monies from the City under an Assessment is the Association under the Brown Act? If the Association establishes a new organization and is registered as a 501(c)(3)to become eligible for grants does that organization fall under the Brown Act? If the Association gives money to the

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Bay Citizen a success at raising funds for nonprofit journalism

donal brown January 20, 2011

A major San Francisco Bay Area’s foray into nonprofit journalism is going well with The Bay Citizen using a complex business plan supporting a commitment to produce high quality news content that attracts a wide audience. -db Neiman Journalism Lab January 19, 2011 By Lois Beckett Seven months into its bid to reinvent the metro newspaper, The Bay Citizen, the San Francisco-based nonprofit news site, has so far raised a total of $14.5 million in

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A&A: Are Search & Rescue Board Meetings subject to Brown Act?

FAC September 8, 2015

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”84622″ img_size=”full size” link=”https://firstamendmentcoalition.org/2015/09/aa-are-search-rescue-board-meetings-subject-to-brown-act/”][vc_column_text] Q: Our Search and Rescue team is a 501.c.3 non-profit corporation, includes only volunteer members, operates under the Sheriff’s Office and uses their facilities/vehicles, raises public donations, and includes two Sheriff Deputy Sergeants on the seven person Search and Rescue Board (they are not on the County Board). Are we subject to the Brown Act? [/vc_column_text][ult_buttons btn_title=”Exercise your right to know! Ask FAC’s Legal Hotline your own question!” btn_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2Ffacelementor.wpengine.com%2Flegal-hotline||” btn_align=”ubtn-center” btn_size=”ubtn-custom” btn_width=”630″ btn_height=”70″ btn_padding_left=”10″

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Republican House majority benches C-SPAN during sit-in over gun legislation

donal brown June 23, 2016

House Republicans turned off the feed to C-SPAN to block the public from direct access to the Democrat’s sit-in over gun legislation. The action obscured the public’s view of words and actions by House members on a crucial issues now under consideration.” Shutting off the cameras sends a terrible message to other countries with new, struggling democracies that you cannot trust your people to evaluate the actions of their government. Instead, it shows that even

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Free speech: Koch Industries loses case against nonprofit

donal brown May 10, 2011

Youth for Climate Truth (YFCT) created a website, www.koch-inc.com, and issued a fake press release from Koch Industries, a company that has challenged the science of climate change. The release stated that the company had agreed not to fund organizations denying climate change. Koch sued YFCT on a number of grounds including trademark infringement. The judge threw the suit out  saying that  YFCT’s activities were not commercial and therefore protected by the First Amendment, not

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Nonprofit vies for right to fund political ads without limits

donal brown January 28, 2010

A federal appeals court will take up the suit of SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commission. The nonprofit SpeechNow.org is suing for the right to advocate for free speech and against free speech restriction in campaign reforms without having to set up a separate political action committee. -DB Institute for Justice Press Release January 26, 2010 ARLINGTON, Va.—Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations may fund independent political ads without government-imposed limits. Tomorrow (Wednesday,

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A&A: Can we compel our non-profit hospital to share financial information with the community?

FAC October 21, 2013

Q: I have received information that my local non-profit hospital pays too-high salaries to its top administrators, has a serious morale problem among doctors and nurses, and is not transparent to the public which grants its non-profit status. My understanding is board members of the hospital do not receive salary information and a full accounting of the hospital’s operations and finances when they meet periodically. What laws govern non-profit hospitals re: transparency? What can those

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A&A: Does the CPRA cover private entities that do work for government?

FAC March 6, 2014

 Q: I am a reporter  working on a story about a recent dog shooting by a police officer although animal control officers say they had the situation under control.  Reports were filed by both Humane Society animal control officers on  the scene when the dog was tasered and shot by the officer.  I understand one of the reports clearly calls into question the necessity of the shooting, but my request for the documents was denied

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Nonprofit expands statehouse coverage in otherwise ghost town news atmosphere

donal brown February 26, 2021

The nonprofit States Newsroom provides readers with statehouse coverage showing that local and state news need not perish. It plans to open five outlets this year in Idaho, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon and New Mexico while providing a free syndication service of statehouse coverage to other news organizations. Begun in 2017 in Nevada, Florida and Virginia, it has now created 17 news outlets. (Poynter, February 26, 2021, by Angela Fu) For related FAC coverage,

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A&A: Senior Center Boards and the Brown Act

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Senior Center Boards and the Brown Act Q: There is a large senior center complex Are their Board of Directors’ meetings subject to the Brown Act? A: With respect to whether the  Board of Directors is subject to the Brown Act, your inquiry does not provide enough information.  The answer depends on whether it is a “legislative body” for the purposes of the Brown Act.  The Brown Act defines that term in Government Code section

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A&A: Private institutions, public funds and the CPRA

firstamendment June 13, 2009

Q: If a private institution such as university or college receives public and private funding for research, can a member of the public get access to records that pertain only to publicly funded research? A: Generally speaking, private universities are not subject to the PRA.  The PRA applies to the public records of state or local agencies.  Under certain circumstances outlined in section 54952(c) of the Brown Act (incorporated into the PRA by section 6252

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A&A: Does the Brown Act apply to city council appointed committees?

FAC August 15, 2015

Q:  Does the Brown Act apply to city council appointed committees?  If it does, how is a city supposed to conduct the necessary extended deliberations critical to producing good decisions regarding (among other things) public services and expenditures of public funds? A: Whether the Brown Act’s meeting requirements apply to committees created by the city council depends on whether the particular committee may be defined as a “legislative body.” Under the Brown Act, a “legislative body”

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Latino nonprofit sues Trump administration for violating Voting Rights Act and Constitution

donal brown October 21, 2020

Mi Familia Vota Education Fund is suing President Donald Trump and his political appointees for intimidating and threatening eligible voters wanting to vote and express support for certain political candidates and political beliefs. Among other acts, Mi Familia Vota said Trump has encouraged his supporters and white supremacists to serve as “poll watchers” to intimidate voters. They also accuse Trump of sending federal law enforcement agents to protests for causes he felt were hostile to

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Free speech: Nonprofit sues Trump over order aimed at social media

donal brown June 3, 2020

The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) filed a lawsuit challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order cracking down on the social media. The order was in response to Twitter’s adding two fact-check labels to Trump’s tweets and restricting a post it felt supported violence. In the order Trump asked regulators to reduce legal protections for the social media from liability for content on their platforms. (The New York Times, June 2, 2020, by Kate Conger)

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Internal Revenue Service delays rules on nonprofit political spending until November

donal brown May 27, 2014

The IRS is ducking out of the political uproar over its proposed rules limiting social welfare nonprofit spending on political campaigns. It delayed a hearing on its rules released last November defining political activity for the nonprofits in order to include feedback on the proposal. (ProPublica, May 23, 2014, by Theodoric Meyer) Republicans had blasted the new rules as violating free speech rights. The rules would prevent groups with 501(c)(4) tax-exempt status from running TV

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